alethealtlifedrawing

[alethealtlifedrawing]

[alethealtlifedrawing]

Some assorted drawings I've done whilst out, that aren't linked to any other projects. I love the building (although I normally hate drawing them) but otherwise I dislike these drawings.

I haven't been able to do life drawing recently with the FMP and I have been struggling mentally and physically. I understand I don't have much work to show for the year and I'm disappointed in myself for not doing more, but my mental struggles have just massively hindered my ability to work

[alethealtlifedrawing]

I tried to come into the afternoon session today, but literally just before stepping in my nerves were so bad that I felt really sick and panicky so I went home. I hope to have enough time this week to do some work in my free time, but with the FMP due next week I'm pretty stressed

[alethealtlifedrawing]

Some untimed (but relatively long) drawings done in oil pastels. Again, the proportions are bad but I actually like these pieces. The shading makes them not look awful. Working in oil pastels is messy but fun

[alethealtlifedrawing]

Did some digital life drawings today. I haven’t felt well but I wanted to attempt something. I would’ve done it yesterday but my brain refused to draw; when it comes to life drawing I keep getting this mental block which leads to a panic attack. It feels impossible to do any work like this.

the drawings turned out fine. Not good, but fine.doing them digitally was nice because it meant I could relax a bit and play more with colour, but I know I can’t do all my pieces like this. They’re still hugely out of proportion and look bad in that regard. No matter what I’m trying I just can’t draw correctly and it’s upsetting. I know it’s because I’m not doing enough work but it’s hard to when my brain panics whenever I attempt anything. I understand I’ll probably fail from a lack of work.

[alethealtlifedrawing]

Did some quick drawings as I finished my deadlines for this week. They turned out OK, but not up to standard. I'm worried my lack of extended pieces will give me a failing grade, but each time I try to sit and do them my brain just refuses to work

[alethealtlifedrawing]

I tried to do another online lesson using the website I found, but my mental health has been awful today and I just couldn't do it. What I did looks fine, but it didn't look good. I got to the point I couldn't even make a mark because my brain just refused. The last one was meant to be a 10 minute pose but I just couldn't get past that point. I'm disappointed that even outside of the classroom I can't do this, it makes me feel like a failure of an artist

[alethealtlifedrawing]

I've found a website that sets up short class sessions; timed sets of life drawing images. I did one this morning and found it fun. I plan on doing these often. I actually like the 10 and 25 minutes pieces I did

[alethealtlifedrawing]

6th march

Not much to show , but whilst out on a trip I did some quick observations of my friends (only a few minutes each).

Despite them not being entirely accurate, I feel they capture some of their likeness and I really enjoyed the process

[alethealtlifedrawing]

28th Feb

Tried to get out and do some observational drawing, but I found that nothing was working and It left me frustrated and upset. My headspace is really not helping with trying to relearn observational drawing at the moment

[alethealtlifedrawing]

14th Feb

I still didn't make it physically into class as I'm still struggling with mental health, but I worked from home. I heard from classmates we were using colour palettes from paintings for life drawing so I tried to do the same at home

My colours turned out more green when they dried, so my pieces don't look entirely right. I struggled again with proportion but honestly working on life drawing alone helps with my mentality; I don't have other people's work there to compare my own to in the moment, which is what demotivates me when I'm struggling.

(Reference painting is Mère et enfant (Mother and Child) 1902 by Pablo Picasso)

[alethealtlifedrawing]

17th JAN continued

[alethealtlifedrawing]

17th JAN

After not being to multiple sessions due to declining mental health, I managed to go to one. I still left after lunch but was proud of even making it in.

We started with lots of 2 minute drawings. These frustrated me as I couldn't get them to look good; they always looked wrong/wonky. I know that doesn't really matter but it's all I can focus on.

After a short break we did 2 20 minute drawings. Whilst not great, they look much better and I'm decently happy with them. I like the shading on the green one and I think the pose is OK on the charcoal one.

My struggles with life drawing at the moment is my mentality; I'm being too much of a perfectionist and compared to others work mine isn't turning out great which is making it hard for me to even turn up and try. I hope to try and get past this.

[alethealtlifedrawing]

8TH NOVEMBER

Today we focused on collage. We did some quick sketches but I had to step out as I was frustrated that none of mine were working.

I enjoyed collaging initially, but those same frustrations of my work looking bad and not working how I want it to set in. So, I took it in a different direction and drew on top of the collage and did a bonus sketch where I smudged everything around.

I dislike most of the work I made today, but its probably because I was in a depressive state. I only stayed for the morning session

[alethealtlifedrawing]

1ST NOVEMBER

This week was events week, so we looked at portraiture in life drawing. I wasn't there for much of it and don't like the majority of what I made.

[alethealtlifedrawing]

19TH OCTOBER

Another session that I sadly had to leave early (due to a migraine), but that I still thoroughly enjoyed.

We started with a drawing that we did in stages; each 3-5 minute stage focusing on one fundamental like angles, shapes, tones etc. I made this into a video to show the progression. Working like this helps me to focus on all the aspects of a piece by taking it slowly.

We then did 2 sets of 5 fast drawings (5ish minutes each). They ended up as like a graphic novel spread. Working fast is something I'm much more comfortable doing with life drawing as I feel the pressure of the time limit makes me work more expressively.

The final piece was a 20 minute piece with no guidance. I found this piece a little more frustrating as I got the proportions wrong and only noticed too late into the drawing.

In this session I really enjoyed drawing a plus sized model, it reminds me of my a level project where I drew myself in similar ways. It's not common to be drawing a model like that and it's something I find fascinating, and that I need to do more of.

[alethealtlifedrawing]

11TH OCTOBER

Today we started with charcoals and focused on taking our drawings in stages. We measured, worked in angles, working in shapes/curves and finally working with tone.

Initially all my pieces were rough but very heavy with black, so for one piece I decided to smudge it all with my hand. I practically "finger painted" by collecting charcoal dust and smudging in blocks of tone.

For 2 pieces I took photos of the process. This forced me to take a moment to step back and look at my work, which we were encouraged to do.

After the lunch break I did a quick sketch of a skull, then we worked with oil Pastels and graphite. I find working with colours more interesting than just plain graphite/charcoal, so I felt more in my element here. After the first pass we used turpentine to blend the oil Pastels. The whole point was to explore this medium.

Overall I think my pieces turned out OK. I'm getting more comfortable with focusing on more than just the figure in my drawings and I'm finding I enjoy having a fully realised image that's messy rather than a more refined figure floating in space. I want to work more with colour in upcoming sessions and I want to try working with my fingers again